Andy Hardy detective

Judge Hardy and Son (1939)

** (out of 4)

Eighth film in the series has Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) trying to help a foreign couple who are about to lose their home. Back at the Hardy household Andy (Mickey Rooney) is having trouble with both money and girls but life's real lessons are brought up when his mother (Fay Holden) comes down with pneumonia and might die. This is a very somber entry in MGM's Andy Hardy series and I'm sure many might enjoy the darkness but overall I thought the film was one of the least entertaining as it just felt rushed and the story really didn't hit me as it should have. We'll start with the story involving the foreign couple. They pretty much just show up at the start of the film and this here allows Andy to do some detective work for his father but there's no laughs or drama to be had with this subplot. The stuff dealing with Mrs. Hardy's death was a mixed bag. On one hand it led to some overly dramatic speeches that were just really, really silly. I don't mean to make light of death but I think people even in 1939 knew the outcome and the preaching here was a tad bit too much for me. I know this series has a lot of people against it because it made life seem all too simple but I've never put any of the films down for that. The religious aspect to the film was just a tad bit too forceful in my opinion but there's no question that their heart was in the right place. It also allows Rooney to do some dramatic acting and he does a wonderful job with it especially in one scene where he finally breaks down at the thought of losing his mother. Stone also gets some very good moments with his son Andy as the two talk about death and what might end up happening. Fans of Universal's monster movies will be happy to see Henry Hull in a brief part as the doctor and Maria Ouspenskaya plays the foreign lady. Ann Rutherford is as charming as ever as Polly and we get a nice performance by Martha O'Driscoll as one of Andy's lady friends. This entry goes without much of the comedy of the earlier films and there's no question the moral lessons are on high alert but in the end none of it really worked for me. This certainly isn't a horrible film but at the same time the series has so many better efforts.

The film opens with Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) talking to an older couple, the Volduzzis, that come to his chambers asking about a document that says their home will be foreclosed on. The husband is out of work and they do not have the money to pay the bank. The judge asks if they have any children who could help them out, and the woman answers with a suspicious "no". In other words, Judge Hardy thinks they do have a son or daughter, but don't want to admit it.

Andy Hardy (Mickey Rooney) has a car in bad need of repair and no money with which to fix it. The Judge tells Andy he'll give him five dollars if he can find out if the older couple has children and locate them. In the process of doing this Andy gets mixed up with three girls who each cause Andy his share of trouble. And then Andy's mother becomes seriously ill and he finds out what real worries are.

By this time the two stars of the Hardy family series are Lewis Stone and Mickey Rooney and the focus is usually their strong father/son relationship via their father/son talks over some mess Andy has gotten himself into. I found this entry to be one of the best of the series as it has some compelling drama balanced with the comedy.

The judge does have the patience of a saint when it comes to his son, who gets into terrible trouble with money when he doesn't read the entire flyer talking about a cash prize for the best essay about Alexander Hamilton, and goes out and spends the prize money ahead of time. This one did bring up a couple of issues about the law. The first is - Why is it always said that debtors could be put in jail in these 30s films when debtors prison was outlawed in the United States in 1833? The second legal issue is that of filial responsibility laws - the obligation to pay the debts of your parents. Prior to Medicare and Social Security these laws were on the books in many states but started being phased out in the 1960s or at least not enforced.

If you like the Hardy family series of films from MGM, I think you'll really like this one too. It's very much cinematic comfort food.

The Andy Hardy series gets a little serious in Judge Hardy And Son. Mickey Rooney gets a chance to do a little detective work on behalf of the court looking for a daughter to an elderly Italian immigrant couple who are in danger of losing their home. The elderly couple is played by Egon Brecher and Maria Ouspenskaya, neither exactly Italian, but in those days they were always cast as all purpose European ethnics.

Cecilia Parker and Mickey Rooney are having their usual brother and sister spats. And Rooney despite ever faithful Ann Rutherford gets himself involved with mush mouth southern belle June Preiser as a result of his search on behalf of Lewis Stone.

The Hardy family does come to crisis when Fay Holden who begged off a trip to see her parents on their golden wedding anniversary develops a touch of pleurisy. That moves quickly to pneumonia and the woman needs round the clock nursing care. Everyone else's troubles fade as the heart of the home threatens to stop beating.

Even Lewis Stone is knocked off kilter with his wife's illness, but in the end comes around to give Mickey Rooney the same old advice about love and life which Mickey keeps hearing, but it never quite takes.

One of the more enjoyable Andy Hardy films.

Judge Hardy is trying to help the Valduzzis who are facing eviction. He sends Andy (Mickey Rooney) out to find the couple's daughter.

It's the eighth film in the Hardy family franchise. They are really churning them out. It's been less than three years since the first movie. This is really a TV sitcom put into film form. More and more, the franchise is placed in the hands of Mickey Rooney. In a way, there may be too much on his plate. He has side stories everywhere. It's sitcom chaos and then it gets real serious. It gets surprisingly dark for about ten minutes. It's a real clash of tones with the sitcom humor. This one seems to be alternating much more than the other movies.

JUDGE HARDY AND SON (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1939), directed by George B. Seitz, the eighth in the now popular family series starring Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, Fay Holden and Sara Haden, its third 1939 series release and the last to label Judge Hardy's name in the title. Basically known to many as the "Andy Hardy" series, the opening credits not only resumes to subtitle this as "Judge Hardy's Family," but continues to have Lewis Stone's name listed first in the cast.

The story opens in Judge Hardy's (Lewis Stone) chambers in which a foreign born elderly couple, Gita (Maria Ouspenskaya) and her husband, Anton Volduzzi (Egon Breacher), a former night watchman, are in the process of losing their home and being in desperate need of financial help. The Volduzzi's have a wealthy daughter somewhere in Carvel, now a mother with a teenage daughter whom they haven't heard from in many years, to be the best possibly source of support. Hardy relies on his teenage son, Andrew (Mickey Rooney), who knows many young girls in the area, to possibly see if any one of them could me the missing Volduzzi, whose mother has married and now living under her married surname. In the midst of Andy's checking up with many young girls who may be a Volduzzi relation, Hardy's wife, Emily (Fay Holden), and her spinster sister, Milly Forrest (Sara Haden), prepare for a trip to Canada to be with their parents for their 50th wedding anniversary. However, Emily returns home prematurely very ill. Examined by the family physician, Doctor Jones (Henry Hull), she is diagnosed with pneumonia. The story shifts to heavy melodramatics as Hardy goes into worry, with Andy, in fear that his mother might be dying, driving through heavy downpousr to the other end of town get his sister, Marion (Cecilia Parker), back home for the family crisis.

Also in the supporting cast are June Preisser (Euphrasia V. Clark, the giggly blonde entering a contest on her essay on Alexander Hamilton); Martha O'Driscoll (Elvie Horton); Leona Maricle (Mrs. Horton);Margaret Early (Clarabelle V. Lee); Cliff Clark (Office Dan O'Shea), along with series regulars as Ann Rutherford (Polly Benedict), Erville Alderson (Hardy's Bailiff) and Georgie Breakston ("Beezy" Anderson. Marie Blake, who appeared as Augusta McBride in LOVE FINDS ANDY HARDY (1938), returns as the sharp-tongued housekeeper. Look for Rooney's real life father, Joe Yule, appearing as Munk, the tire man. What makes this entry interesting is seeing accomplished movie veterans as Henry Hull and Maria Ouspenskaya in fine support.

With 1939 being a busy year for Mickey Rooney, appearing in three "Andy Hardy" films, and two outside roles as THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN, and the musical, BABES IN ARMS opposite Judy Garland, and its JUDGE HARDY AND SON co-stars as June Priesser and Henry Hull, Rooney was at the peak of his career. Containing plot elements ranging from light comedy to somber moments MGM style, JUDGE HARDY AND SON is standard and typical material. With Andy constantly bickering with his older sister, it's during the family crisis do they sentimentally show their love and how they truly feel about each other, this being one of the highlights. As MGM used this movie series as testing ground for its young starlets, few including Judy Garland and Lana Turner to have achieved super stardom, the young female co-stars for JUDGE HARDY AND SON featuring June Priesser, Martha O'Driscoll and Margaret Early would resume further careers at other movie studios. Forgotten by today's standards doesn't take away from fans of the series viewing this latest "Hardy Family" installment.

Part of the "Andy Hardy" package on DVD, JUDGE HARDY AND SON, along with others in the series, can be found broadcast of cable television's Turner Classic Movies. Next in the series, ANDY HARDY MEETS DEBUTANTE (1940 featuring the return engagement of Judy Garland as Betsy Booth from LOVE FINDS ANDY HARDY (1938). (***)